- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine; (Bernhard-Nocht-Institut für Tropenmedizin) (BNI) is a medical institution based in
Hamburg ,Germany which is dedicated to research, treatment, training and therapy of tropical and infectious diseases.The body responsible for the BNI is the
Federal Ministry of Health (Germany) and the Government Agency for Social Affairs, Family Affairs, Health and Environment of Hamburg.The BNI is allied with the
Kwame Nkrumah University in Ghana, where there is a laboratory complex named the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine. Today, there is a staff of approximately 400 people working in Hamburg andKumasi combined. Presently, it is considered the most important research facility regardingtropical medicine in Germany.History
On 1 October, 1900 the "Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases" was opened in the former administration building of a naval hospital in Hamburg. Bernhard Nocht (1857-1945), a naval physician was appointed superintendent and director of the clinic. In 1942, the institute's name was changed to "Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Maritime and Tropical Diseases" in honour of Nocht's 85th birthday. In 1990 it adopted its present name.
The inpatient hospital department is since 2006 located at the
University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf .Research contributions
The following list contains a few of the contributions made at the Bernhard Nocht Institute:
* 1905- Nocht's assistant, chemistGustav Giemsa creates theGiemsa stain , an histological improvement of the existingRomanowsky stain .
* 1916- PathologistHenrique da Rocha Lima identifies the causative agent ("Rickettsia prowazeki"} ofepidemic typhus .
* 1911-1926- Improvements regardingmalaria therapy are made; experimentation is concentrated on producing effective derivatives ofquinine to reduce side-effects.
* 1918- Dr. Rocha-Lima identifies the causative agent oftrench fever ("Rochalimea quintana"), later renamed "Borrelia ".
* 1943- The discovery concerning the missing part of the reproduction cycle of (Plasmodium praecox) in bird malaria is made.
* 1950- Helminthologist Hans Vogel demonstrates that macaques can be immunized against "Schistosoma japonicum ", the cause of Far Easternschistosomiasis .
* 1961- Dr. Vogel publishes the life cycle ofEchinococcus multilocularis .
* 1985- In a joint project with American scientists, Paul Racz and Klara Tenner-Racz exhibit that in patients infected with HIV, massive viral replication takes place in thelymph node s.Today the institute continues its research and treatment of tropical diseases, including dangerous diseases such as
Lassa fever ,Marburg virus ,Ebola fever andleishmaniasis .ee also
*
Travel medicine
*Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
*Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine , (Belgium )
*Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene External links
[http://www.bni-hamburg.de Bernhard Nocht Institute Home Page]
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